http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2011/02/wi-offender-unhappy-about-mapping.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FjPcH+(Sex+Offender+Issues)
By TED SULLIVAN
JANESVILLE - [name withheld] wasn’t happy when she saw her name and picture on a Janesville police website listing felony drunken-driving offenders.
“I just thought it was kind of bizarre and crazy,” she said. “We’re not sex offenders.”
[name withheld] is one of 55 Janesville residents on an online map revealing information about people with at least five drunken-driving convictions.
[name withheld], 44, said the Janesville police mapping program, Project Sober Streets, is a violation of her privacy.
She acknowledges that her eight drunken-driving convictions are serious, but she said the map goes too far.
“Do they really have to go to the extreme of putting all of our information on it?” she said. “Why don’t they do one for drug dealers or crackheads?”
Police say Project Sober Streets allows people to track offenders such as [name withheld] to protect the public, report problems and deter drunken driving. The map reveals [name withheld]’s name, address, photograph, driver’s license and probation statuses.
- Many people have their social security number as their license number. So are you opening some folks up to identity theft by doing so?
Police Chief Dave Moore said the map doesn’t violate anyone’s privacy. He said the project publishes information available to anyone on websites such as Wisconsin’s online court records system.
- So lets here you say that when you or someone in your family gets put onto the list. Of course it violates privacy.
Janesville police arrested 304 people in 2010 for drunken driving. The city averages about 100 drunken-driving crashes a year.
“This is a public safety issue. These are folks that have shown repeatedly that they are unable to follow the law,” Moore said. “Given the public safety measure of this issue, I think the disclosure is appropriate.”
- So why aren't they in prison and forced to get therapy? Once again, this doesn't protect anybody or prevent crime. If someone is intent on driving drunk, they will.
He said police always are looking at ways to fight threats in the community, including drunken driving, drug dealing or other problems.
- You could put everyone, even non criminals on a online registry, and it would not deter crime, but you folks continue to live in fantasy land. One day, you will also be on an online registry, it's only a matter of time. You might have to have one to buy, sell or trade as well, and it may be in your right hand or forehead.
He said drunken drivers were chosen for the mapping project because the website is a proactive way to fight the problem.
- Fight it how? And why not gang members or drug dealers as well?
“Absent Project Sober Streets, these people pretty much live in anonymity,” Moore said. “Even at the police department, we were surprised at the sheer number of these people living in our community.”
- Well, they should be allowed to live in anonymity, and I highly doubt you were shocked.
[name withheld] said she is worried about a dangerous man from her past finding her by using the map.
- Exactly! And it does happen, sex offenders are targets of violence all the time.
She admits she never raised her concerns with the police department, even though she was notified she would be on the website.
Moore said he would consider removing offenders if they had valid safety risks. He said sex offenders had similar concerns that never came to fruition.
“This was mirrored after the sex-offender registry,” Moore said. “Even with sex offenders, we never experienced any violence from disclosing where they live.”
- Well, I beg to differ. You should look around the Internet at the news articles, like the link above, and also the blogs by eAdvocate in the LINKS section.
Moore said he thought he would get several phone calls after notifying offenders they would be on the website. But the calls never came.
Five offenders contacted the department about the website, Moore said. Three were supportive of the program, the fourth was upset and the fifth claimed he no longer lived in Janesville.
One offender wrote the police department a letter, stating he has been through treatment and would like to help keep drunken drivers off the streets.
“I support my community and public safety and am willing to speak and mentor anyone in the community,” the letter states.
Several people in Wisconsin and other states e-mailed the department, complimenting Janesville police on the idea, Moore said. A radio talk-show host in California had Moore on as a guest to talk about the website.
West Allis Police Chief Mike Jungbluth said he liked Janesville’s idea so much that he is doing the same thing at his department. He learned about the program during a meeting of Wisconsin police chiefs.
- Of course, and each new registry wastes a ton of money. Why not have one CRIMINALS registry with all criminals on it, so we can "protect" ourselves from them?
West Allis police in 2010 arrested 615 people for drunken driving, more than twice as many as Janesville. He said the website would bring awareness to residents and hopefully deter the problem.
- And how many of those you arrested were already on the list? I am willing to bet less than 2%. Most are new people who are not on the list already, and it did not deter them, nor will it deter any other person.
“The city of West Allis has a huge issue; it’s a cultural thing,” Jungbluth said. “We have 120 bars within our 11.1 square miles."
“It’s just an ongoing issue that we have within our community,” he said. “We’re definitely doing our best to tell people that it’s not tolerated in our city.”
Posting information about offenders online is not new to Janesville police. The department also publishes the names and addresses of people arrested on criminal charges.
The drunken driving map had 8,000 hits from eight countries in the days after it went public. The site has since dropped to about 270 hits a month.
- So you see, people don't care, or else you'd be getting a lot more hits. So how is it protecting anybody when nobody uses it? Even if they did use it, it still would not protect anybody.
[name withheld] said family and friends immediately told her they saw her on the map after it went online. She said some people posted about it on her Facebook page.
She wonders what else police could put on the Internet.
- Why don't they put online all the police brutality cases, or cops in prison having sex with inmates, importing drugs into the prisons, or even the cops who have been busted for DUI or drugs?
“What are they going to do next,” [name withheld] said, “have a website for people who smoke too many cigarettes a day or drink too much coffee in a day?”
- Well it was all predicted in the Bible, if you believe in the Bible, which I do. Everyone will eventually be marked, it's only a matter of time. They have to introduce it slowly, so people get accustom to it.
JANESVILLE - [name withheld] wasn’t happy when she saw her name and picture on a Janesville police website listing felony drunken-driving offenders.
“I just thought it was kind of bizarre and crazy,” she said. “We’re not sex offenders.”
[name withheld] is one of 55 Janesville residents on an online map revealing information about people with at least five drunken-driving convictions.
[name withheld], 44, said the Janesville police mapping program, Project Sober Streets, is a violation of her privacy.
She acknowledges that her eight drunken-driving convictions are serious, but she said the map goes too far.
“Do they really have to go to the extreme of putting all of our information on it?” she said. “Why don’t they do one for drug dealers or crackheads?”
Police say Project Sober Streets allows people to track offenders such as [name withheld] to protect the public, report problems and deter drunken driving. The map reveals [name withheld]’s name, address, photograph, driver’s license and probation statuses.
- Many people have their social security number as their license number. So are you opening some folks up to identity theft by doing so?
Police Chief Dave Moore said the map doesn’t violate anyone’s privacy. He said the project publishes information available to anyone on websites such as Wisconsin’s online court records system.
- So lets here you say that when you or someone in your family gets put onto the list. Of course it violates privacy.
Janesville police arrested 304 people in 2010 for drunken driving. The city averages about 100 drunken-driving crashes a year.
“This is a public safety issue. These are folks that have shown repeatedly that they are unable to follow the law,” Moore said. “Given the public safety measure of this issue, I think the disclosure is appropriate.”
- So why aren't they in prison and forced to get therapy? Once again, this doesn't protect anybody or prevent crime. If someone is intent on driving drunk, they will.
He said police always are looking at ways to fight threats in the community, including drunken driving, drug dealing or other problems.
- You could put everyone, even non criminals on a online registry, and it would not deter crime, but you folks continue to live in fantasy land. One day, you will also be on an online registry, it's only a matter of time. You might have to have one to buy, sell or trade as well, and it may be in your right hand or forehead.
He said drunken drivers were chosen for the mapping project because the website is a proactive way to fight the problem.
- Fight it how? And why not gang members or drug dealers as well?
“Absent Project Sober Streets, these people pretty much live in anonymity,” Moore said. “Even at the police department, we were surprised at the sheer number of these people living in our community.”
- Well, they should be allowed to live in anonymity, and I highly doubt you were shocked.
[name withheld] said she is worried about a dangerous man from her past finding her by using the map.
- Exactly! And it does happen, sex offenders are targets of violence all the time.
She admits she never raised her concerns with the police department, even though she was notified she would be on the website.
Moore said he would consider removing offenders if they had valid safety risks. He said sex offenders had similar concerns that never came to fruition.
“This was mirrored after the sex-offender registry,” Moore said. “Even with sex offenders, we never experienced any violence from disclosing where they live.”
- Well, I beg to differ. You should look around the Internet at the news articles, like the link above, and also the blogs by eAdvocate in the LINKS section.
Moore said he thought he would get several phone calls after notifying offenders they would be on the website. But the calls never came.
Five offenders contacted the department about the website, Moore said. Three were supportive of the program, the fourth was upset and the fifth claimed he no longer lived in Janesville.
One offender wrote the police department a letter, stating he has been through treatment and would like to help keep drunken drivers off the streets.
“I support my community and public safety and am willing to speak and mentor anyone in the community,” the letter states.
Several people in Wisconsin and other states e-mailed the department, complimenting Janesville police on the idea, Moore said. A radio talk-show host in California had Moore on as a guest to talk about the website.
West Allis Police Chief Mike Jungbluth said he liked Janesville’s idea so much that he is doing the same thing at his department. He learned about the program during a meeting of Wisconsin police chiefs.
- Of course, and each new registry wastes a ton of money. Why not have one CRIMINALS registry with all criminals on it, so we can "protect" ourselves from them?
West Allis police in 2010 arrested 615 people for drunken driving, more than twice as many as Janesville. He said the website would bring awareness to residents and hopefully deter the problem.
- And how many of those you arrested were already on the list? I am willing to bet less than 2%. Most are new people who are not on the list already, and it did not deter them, nor will it deter any other person.
“The city of West Allis has a huge issue; it’s a cultural thing,” Jungbluth said. “We have 120 bars within our 11.1 square miles."
“It’s just an ongoing issue that we have within our community,” he said. “We’re definitely doing our best to tell people that it’s not tolerated in our city.”
Posting information about offenders online is not new to Janesville police. The department also publishes the names and addresses of people arrested on criminal charges.
The drunken driving map had 8,000 hits from eight countries in the days after it went public. The site has since dropped to about 270 hits a month.
- So you see, people don't care, or else you'd be getting a lot more hits. So how is it protecting anybody when nobody uses it? Even if they did use it, it still would not protect anybody.
[name withheld] said family and friends immediately told her they saw her on the map after it went online. She said some people posted about it on her Facebook page.
She wonders what else police could put on the Internet.
- Why don't they put online all the police brutality cases, or cops in prison having sex with inmates, importing drugs into the prisons, or even the cops who have been busted for DUI or drugs?
“What are they going to do next,” [name withheld] said, “have a website for people who smoke too many cigarettes a day or drink too much coffee in a day?”
- Well it was all predicted in the Bible, if you believe in the Bible, which I do. Everyone will eventually be marked, it's only a matter of time. They have to introduce it slowly, so people get accustom to it.
My answer to the police chief is this: I will start a website, with this accessible, public information, such as all public servants names, addresses, phone numbers, and pictures and even family members. I would include lawmakers, Police officials, senators. I'll call it the Public Service Registry. I bet this site is removed within hours, even though it is ACCESSIBLE, PUBLIC INFORMATION.
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